As fast as the Impact conference arrived is about as fast as it is disappearing in our collective rearview mirror. It seems like a blur. In a word, the conference was... exhausting! In other words, it was informative, exciting, and illuminating. I hope that many of you had a chance to make it out there, and I hope more of you make it to Impact in 2013.

For those of you familiar with the conference, you know that it is typically a launching ground for new product versions and altogether new products. This year was certainly no different with the launch of the new version of WebSphere Application Server (8.5), the new and improved IBM Business Process Manager and IBM Operational Decision Manager, a new version of WebSphere eXtreme Scale (8.5), and numerous updates across the messaging and connectivity stack. While I encourage you to follow up on all of these important announcements, they are not what I am going to focus on today. Instead, I am going to focus on the new addition to the IBM family that got plenty of attention this year: IBM PureApplication System.

Joe recently touched on this new offering, so I won't get into an exhaustive overview. To put it briefly, IBM PureApplication System is an expert integrated system. What does that mean? First and foremost it means that it is a system -- a whole. It is an integrated platform of hardware and software, optimized and tuned for running transactional web and database workloads. I do not mean that it is a system of software that we pre-install on off-the-shelf hardware. Rather, it is the result of hardware and software engineers across IBM working together to build a system that is expert at what it does. More than just the web application and database software though, IBM PureApplication System also contains pre-installed and pre-configured management software that delivers a soup to nuts (hardware to application) single pane of glass for managing the entire system. I could go on and on, but again that's not my purpose here. I encourage you to check out the new IBM PureSystems web page for more information and some pretty cool videos.

For those of you that take a look at IBM PureApplication System you will quickly find that the notion of pattern-based deployments (something I have talked about at length on this blog) plays a key role in the new system. In fact, the same virtual system and virtual application pattern constructs that you have come to know in IBM Workload Deployer are front and center in IBM PureApplication System as well. In the new system, you can build custom virtual system and virtual application patterns, deploy them to your cloud, and then manage them over time. If you are familiar with the IBM Workload Deployer user interface, you will likely find yourself immediately familiar with the interface of IBM PureApplication System. Given all of that, if you are like many of the users I talked to at Impact and since, you probably have some questions as to IBM Workload Deployer and this new system. Most commonly, I get these two questions: "What does this mean for the IBM Workload Deployer product?" and "How do I know when to use IBM PureApplication System versus IBM Workload Deployer?" Let me do my best to address those questions.

In terms of the impact of the IBM PureApplication System on the IBM Workload Deployer offering, I can only view it in one way: affirmation. As I said above, IBM PureApplication System puts the mode of pattern-based deployments front and center, and further affirms that this kind of approach is crucial to the evolution of application delivery and management. Those of you familiar with IBM Workload Deployer or its predecessor WebSphere CloudBurst know that we have been talking about patterns for years. Rest assured we will continue to talk about patterns and solutions for building, deploying, and managing them. As it stands, we have at least three ways for you to build, deploy, and manage patterns: IBM SmartCloud Application Services, IBM Workload Deployer, and IBM PureApplication System. As you can see, options for consuming patterns have only increased since the initial launch of WebSphere CloudBurst. Furthermore, if you were at Impact, you know that we have a vibrant and vocal community of IBM Workload Deployer users, and I hope to see that community continue to grow! As I see it, the core technology of IBM Workload Deployer is becoming our 'operating system' for cloud platform management.

The question of when to use IBM Workload Deployer or when to use IBM PureApplication System is one whose answer is a bit more nuanced and not something one can or should try to definitively answer in a blog post. One thing I do suggest though is that when evaluating these two technologies, it is important to acknowledge that they have different business value propositions. Sure they share common core technology in terms of building, deploying, and managing pattern-based environments, but beyond that they diverge a bit. Remember, IBM PureApplication System is, well a system. It is the hardware, software, and management technology you need to run your middleware application workloads. It is pre-built and pre-integrated to the point that it only requires you to roll it into your datacenter, hook it up to your network, and do some one time configuration. The aim for the duration between receipt of the system to up and running with your first deployment is four hours, and if you were at Impact you saw an amusing video with the chief architect (Jason McGee) that proves this claim.

IBM Workload Deployer is fundamentally different in terms of how you consume it and how it integrates with your infrastructure. Most notably, IBM Workload Deployer does not include optimized hardware (servers, storage, networking) for running your workloads or a single point of management for everything from hardware to applications. To use IBM Workload Deployer you attach it to your network and point it at existing virtualized servers. Simply put, IBM Workload Deployer assumes you have existing, under-utilized hardware that you can get more out of with the intelligent deployment and management approach the appliance delivers. While you do not get the pre-integrated and optimized system of hardware plus software, you do get the flexibility to use your existing infrastructure.

As you can see, there are similarities (patterns) and differences (whole system vs. management system), and the result is a pretty different set of value propositions. The key in evaluating these technologies is that you do so with a crisp understanding of your current needs AND your future plans for growth and evolution. I know this kind of advice is a bit generalized, but I hope the differences I discussed above help you to at least understand the capabilities of the two different offerings. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please reply to the post!